Chapter 5

I t had stopped raining the following morning when Dae and Eunny made the trip up to the university. Dae insisted that she could find her way alone. The options were limited: one could either follow the road to the university or the road off toward the mountain pass. Even a newcomer to the area with a middling sense of direction like Dae couldn’t miss the university’s prominent towers built into the mountainside.

“I’ve got a delivery to make. It’s no trouble.” Eunny had the foresight to hire them a carriage, dismissing Dae’s concern. “I need one for the delivery anyway. Might as well make the most of it if the client’s paying.”

“What is all of this?” Dae asked, nodding at the crates.

“Mended a bunch of pots and tools for the Grove. They’ll need to reapply some spells, but most of the tools can be fixed or repurposed. Get a few more years out of them.”

Dae eyed the closest open-top crate and its refashioned hand tools. Polished wood gleamed under fresh coats of sealant; metal edges had been cleaned, cracks and chips filed down or stabilized. When she touched one of the handles, she found only a trace of magic in the sealing wax itself, but nothing applied to the tools themselves. Repairs all made by Eunny’s hands and hard work, unassisted by magic.

“You’re really good at this,” Dae said. “The university must love you.”

Eunny gave an uncomfortable shrug. “I have help.”

“Take the compliment, Eun.” Dae stepped into the carriage before her friend could point out that Dae, too, was terrible at accepting praise.

The trip by horse, even one pulling a carriage, went by quickly with the road drying out. Dae marveled at the weathered gray walls and metal-reinforced wooden gate as they passed through Sylveren’s entrance. The university’s courtyard opened up to a large, castle-like main building capped by a silvery dome. Paved streets ran in either direction, skirting decorative gardens and creating thoroughfares of residential-looking buildings and distinctly themed quadrants. One area held a cluster of towers, while another encompassed a building of blue and gray bricks and the white and gold stained-glass windows denoting a House of Syvrine, the Goddess of Light. Farther out was a grouping of greenhouses situated around a multilevel wooden house that itself grew up, out of, and around a massive Valley maple tree.

Dae peered around, curious to know which of the buildings housed the water magic department.

Eunny stepped down from the carriage and turned her face toward the stiff breeze. She breathed in deep. “I know we’re just up the road, but I swear the air feels different here.”

“How long will you stay?” Dae asked as she retrieved her bags.

“Just enough to make the delivery and show you around however much you want.” Eunny carefully stacked her crates on a small handcart. “Otherwise, I’ll see if the stables will let me take one of the ponies back to town.”

Dae followed Eunny toward the main building’s entrance as her friend explained the varied modes of transportation between the school and town. She noted the location of the stables and learned that, while many made the couple of miles trip on foot, one could rent a horse and ride or go by carriage for a modest fee. Business between the university and Sylvan was consistent enough that one could find a ride going either direction with little fuss.

After leaving Eunny to trundle off to the grovetenders’ greenhouses, Dae made her way into the main building. Registration went smoothly, Dae confirming her scholarship information and first term’s schedule. The young man handling her paperwork gave her a map and reminder about housing payment being due at the end of the week before moving on to the next student.

Tucking away the bud of anxiety spawned by his comment, Dae followed signs to the mailroom, more to familiarize herself than from expectation of having received anything.

“Key or magic?” the clerk at the desk asked.

“Um…” Dae hesitated before offering up, “Magic?”

The clerk checked a logbook, then held out a small stamp pad. “Just your thumb, please. You’re box five-hundred sixty.”

Pressing her thumb against the pad, it came away with a light dusting of translucent, glittery powder. Dae found her assigned box, though sheepishly had to ask for instructions on how to open the thing.

“Spark of light at the keyhole.” The clerk demonstrated, rubbing thumb and forefinger briskly together in something like a snap, a small crackle of golden light bursting from their fingertip before winking out. “Only a spark, though. Too much magic messes with the locks.”

Flustered as she was, it took Dae two tries, but she managed to call a pinpoint of light close enough to the keyhole to trigger the unlocking mechanism. The dust on her thumb vanished in a puff of glittery smoke as the small mailbox door, no taller nor wider than the palm of her hand, popped open to reveal a single letter. Dae stared at it, surprise morphing into a bubble of hope. The timing might’ve worked out if the letter had traveled from Central on one of the faster boats. It could be from her parents, agreeing to transfer some funds. Perhaps her financial woes were all for naught.

Dae’s budding hope was immediately dashed upon seeing the university logo embossed on the envelope’s back flap. She grumbled to herself as she went back outside, dragging her bags while trying to read the letter. It was ridiculous to have thought that her parents would have a change of heart so soon, or for Calya to have discovered anything like empathy. She was annoyed at herself for having hoped for it and annoyed at how crestfallen she felt. Her family had shown how little regard they had for her wants and dreams. Dae knew this yet still cared too much, even as she tried to convince herself that she didn’t.

The letter was brief but immediate in its effect, the rain and wave emblem of the water department driving out Dae’s morose thoughts. The note was written in small, precise script, inviting Dae to meet once she was settled. Signed with a simple M. Vaadt .

“What’s that?” Eunny waited outside, her empty handcart tucked under her arm.

“An invitation to meet Professor Vaadt.”

“A scholarship meeting?” Eunny asked as she wrestled away Dae’s bags and put them on the cart.

“I’m not sure. It just says welcome to Sylveren and to come by when I’m free.” Dae perused her orientation paperwork. “Where is Vanas House?”

“That’s where you’re rooming? Nice. Most of those units are singles, upper Adept levels and early Magister’s. It’s next to the Grove,” Eunny said, leading the way past the greenhouse complex to the wooden buildings built in harmony with the huge tree. It was an ethereal maple, the likes of which Dae had never seen, with leaves in a variegated mix of red and gold. They appeared to give off intermittent, tiny dots of light that floated up before dissipating into the sky. Dae had never wished more for a knack for earth magic and an excuse to live in the beautiful tree.

Eunny helped Dae find her room—a clean if spare single unit with a plain bed and desk—and then gave her a quick tour of Sylveren’s main campus.

“The Dome is adminnie on the main floor, core Initiate levels classes on the upper levels. The Towers are all the elementalists, except for earth, since they have the Grove. House of Syvrine is light; the Den is the basement levels below it, and that’s the shadow set. Residence halls scattered around.” Eunny pointed out each department’s area as she spoke.

Dae’s head spun as she tried to keep track, scribbling notes onto her campus map. Her hand shook slightly as she made the annotation for the Towers. If all the elements were there except for earth, would she see Ezzyn? Pass him in the halls, or … gods, Eunny had said Magister levels were in Vanas House as well. If they were neighbors—

You’re here to study. Calm yourself .

“Want me to help you unpack?” Eunny said, drawing Dae’s attention from her addled thoughts.

“I’ll be all right.” Dae gave her a weak smile. “You’ve done so much for me already. I think I’m going to head back and have a mild panic.”

“You belong here.” Eunny pulled Dae into a quick, tight hug. “I’m just in town. I expect enough visits to make up for four years of nothing.”

Dae laughed. “Of course. You’ll be sick of my face, you’ll see me so much.”

After promising to keep Eunny apprised of the job situation, Dae said her goodbyes and trekked back to her room. She was able to get the lock spell to work on her first try, which made her feel obnoxiously proud and mage-like. It took too little time to be fully unpacked, her desk organized to her liking. It wasn’t even noon. Classes wouldn’t begin for another two days.

Dae ran her fingers over the letter from Professor Vaadt. Now seemed as good a time as any, seeing as Vaadt hadn’t given any specifics for their meeting. Even if the professor wasn’t in, Dae could at least get a feel for the Towers.

She donned her cloak and ventured out, map in hand.

The water department called the shortest, squattest of the Towers home, which Dae appreciated, as it meant less space where she could get lost. She found Vaadt’s office on the main floor, tucked toward the back. The door was open, the brass nameplate declaring it as the office of Maryit Vaadt, Master Elementalist.

Dae tapped on the doorframe. “Hello?”

The professor looked up, brows pulling together as they tried to place her.

“Anadae Helm,” Dae said. “I’m the Vaadt Scholarship recipient. I received your note—”

“Yes, come in,” Vaadt said in a brisk tone. They motioned toward a chair in front of their desk.

Dae sat, folding her hands across her lap as Vaadt finished up with a ledger on their desk. They looked of similar age to her parents, somewhere in their fifties, long brown hair streaked with gray and secured into a low tail. When they looked up to study Dae’s face, there was a weathered quality to their light skin and solid features. A Graelynder in name, Vaadt’s Eyllic ex-pat roots were well-known. Dae wondered if the magical community and the relative isolation of the Valley made for a more peaceable life. Neither Graelynd nor Rhell would have been welcoming to an Eyllic, even though Vaadt had left Eylle decades ago. Yet the Order of Sylveren maintained the Valley as a unique, self-governing neutral zone, open to all who came with good will and intentions.

Open in theory, for whether it was the wellspring or the lingering spirit of Sylveren, the Child themself, the region was notorious for making those it deemed unsuitable feel unwelcome. The defenses of the land were many and varied, and not entirely known even to its oldest residents. Eyllic or not, Vaadt had the Valley’s approval.

“You’ve just arrived?” Vaadt said.

“Yes, this morning.”

“How are you liking it?”

“It’s…” Dae cast about for a suitable word, settling on, “Overwhelming. A little.”

“It can be at first. The Adept Ones all take place here in the Water Tower for the first few weeks.”

An absurd amount of relief flooded Dae, making her laugh. “That should help.”

Vaadt nodded once. “Now”—they leaned forward—“as I recall, your essay for the scholarship stated an interest in using your magic in service of the public?”

“Yes, I want…” Dae paused, collected her thoughts—looked into Vaadt’s steely gaze and said in earnest, “I want to do something good with it.”

“In what manner? My understanding of your work for Helm Naval Engineering was that you focused on maritime logistics.”

“I did, but that was more business of the mundane sort, nothing arcane. I think it’s too—too mired in bureaucracy. I know I won’t learn enough in a year to change the world, but I’d like something where I can actually grow and apply my skills as a mage. Something where I’m contributing in a way that’s meaningful.”

“Like environmental restoration?” Vaadt said. “The university is offering a multidisciplinary seminar this year. The focus is studying elementalist efforts in combatting magic-based land degradation. Rhell is certainly the primary example, but there are several areas where the work applies.”

The seminar Ezzyn had mentioned. Indecision churned in Dae’s gut, excitement crashing against a vague sense of refusal. It sounded perfect yet fraught. Work that interested her and repelled at the same time, because it awoke something else. That line of study would mean regular contact with Ezzyn. Learning with him, from him. All of the what-ifs of their past that she’d carefully locked away, those boundaries would weaken. Perhaps break enough for her and Ezzyn both to realize in real time why some things were best left as hazy memories and daydreams.

He would have authority over her, even if he was only a guest rather than a true professor. Their encounter at the teashop already told her how such a dynamic would work. His arrogance, that undercurrent of contempt for the girl he’d known and the woman he presumed her to be. The way he’d tried to handle her financial problems. Years might have passed since her decision to stay in Central District, since she’d chosen an education—and a betrothal—that she didn’t truly want, yet those memories were still shared and raw.

“There are still a few spots open,” Vaadt said. “It would count for your Adept levels focus track requirement.”

“I-I’m interested,” Dae admitted. “But I’m not sure if I should add that in my first term. Do I have time to consider it?”

“Only through the end of the first week, same as any course you might want to add or drop.” Vaadt sat back. “Your goals are admirable. Consider how you want to establish yourself in the community here. Once that is clear, my role as your advisor is to help you achieve it.”

They chatted for a few more minutes over Dae’s initial courseload, then she left Vaadt to their lesson-planning. Dae wandered down the stairs to the multilevel atrium on the Towers’ ground floor, where a rare burst of sunlight glanced off the many windows. Vaadt’s words rolled around in her head.

How to establish herself and what that would look like seemed too big a concept, and yet … not. Easy, no, but straightforward? That was probably yes. She’d been setting herself to becoming Dae for months now. Becoming more than the Helm name. A mage, perhaps even one who could have a part to play in halting the devastation plaguing Rhell. Doing something that mattered instead of hanging on Brint Avenor’s arm and hoping some of her work would manifest in his next project.

She alighted from the stairs, intent on exiting out the main door, but the sight of Ezzyn standing inside the doorway in conversation with another man brought her up short. The other man was talking, making wild gesticulations to emphasize a point in his story. Ezzyn laughed, a ray of sunlight filtering through the window and turning his hair white-gold.

He looked so … light, and it made Dae feel—

I can’t imagine your family sanctioned this endeavor.

Dae was sick of being seen merely as an extension of the Helm name. Sylveren was the place to make something of herself, independent of anyone else, so that none could claim she’d only managed it with help. Her Adept One in her first year of study, that was her goal, her focus. She didn’t have time for the kind of trouble a prince would bring.

Dae turned around before the men spotted her. She went back up the hall in search of a side exit, too focused on escaping to notice how the sound of Ezzyn’s laughter had cut off, as if his attention had been diverted elsewhere.